During a conference in Amsterdam, TSMC executive Kevin Zhang expressed his concern about the cost of ASML’s next generation “High NA EUV” machines. While he is a fan of the technology, he mentioned that the A16 plants could potentially be designed to incorporate the technology, but this is not confirmed. TSMC is currently the largest user of ASML’s regular EUV machines.
ASML is known for dominating the market for lithography systems, which use beams of light to create the circuitry of chips. Lithography plays a crucial role in improving chips, as smaller features on a chip translate to faster and more energy-efficient performance. However, the cost of High NA tools is expected to be more than 350 million euros each, compared to 200 million euros for ASML’s regular EUV machines.
Intel recently announced that it had successfully assembled one of ASML’s new High NA EUV lithography tools, marking a milestone for the U.S. computer chip maker in their efforts to stay ahead of competitors. This development underlines the importance of advanced lithography technology in the semiconductor industry.
